DC’s McMaster School Celebrates 10th Anniversary

October 17, 2012

DEFIANCE, Ohio – Defiance College celebrated thetenth anniversary of the McMaster School for Advancing
Humanity with a program and banquet on Oct. 13. The evening included announcement
of the first-ever McMaster Humanitarian Award, recognition of international student
scholarships, and presentations by students who have participated in international
and local projects.

The McMaster School was started in 2002 with a generous gift from Harold and Helen
McMaster, both DC alumni. The McMaster School at Defiance College has enabled 216
student scholars and 79 faculty fellows and associate fellows to undertake more than
280 projects in Belize, Cambodia, Ghana, Guatemala, Ireland, Jamaica, New Orleans,
and Thailand. Projects have ranged from training rural health care providers in
Cambodia to use microscopes to diagnose malaria and tuberculosis, to assisting a group
of women in a small village in Belize to start a restaurant; from assisting victims
of domestic violence, to training both educators and students; from doing chemical
analysis of drinking water in small towns and villages, to installing solar panels
and to protecting endangered species. The anniversary event was a chance to reflect
on the impact that the McMaster School has had on those directly involved with its
programs on campus and around the world.

“It is rare that a single family can make such a significant impact on such a broad
scale in such a short period of time,” said Defiance College president Mark Gordon.
“But that is what the McMaster family has achieved.”

The McMaster School has also stimulated numerous other activities at Defiance College,
including an annual symposium on individual liberties; regular “Constitutional Conversations”;
Project 701 (the student run non-profit); the Defiance College Partnership for Jobs;
and Defiance’s new Imagine Initiatives, which commit the College to providing a range
of life-changing domestic and international cultural and travel opportunities for
its students.

The McMaster Humanitarian Award was presented to John and Lynn Witte, Toledo. The
Wittes (John is one of the founders of the solar design firm Advanced Distributed
Generation) were integral in the system design and installation of a solar powered
system on a school in Belize in memory of Harold McMaster. Not only did they travel
with the McMaster School to install the panels on a government school in a village
without electricity, but they also returned two years later to help build a small
house for its teachers. Their contribution has significantly improved access to education
and the opportunities that the children of the village have today.

To recognize the vision of Helen McMaster and her late husband, it was announced that
a plaque would be erected in a restaurant in rural Belize, a business that was created
as a direct result of a McMaster initiative. Gordon recalled that when he first met
Helen three years ago, “One of the things she made clear to me was that she wanted
the McMaster School’s projects to encourage residents of small towns and villages
to take entrepreneurial risks. She wanted us to provide assistance, to villagers in
unleashing their own potential to better their lives.”

As a result, recent DC graduate Bryant Green assisted a group of Belizean women to
realize their dream of opening a restaurant in their village.

The College also honored each of the McMaster siblings with scholarships in their
names. These scholarships provide educational opportunities to study at Defiance College
for international students who benefit from learning in and learning about America
and are specifically available to students in communities abroad with which DC has
a relationship. This year’s scholarships enabled four students from Jamaica to begin
study at Defiance College this fall: Cormack Lazarus received the Ronald McMaster
International Student Engagement Scholarship; Lornette Lynch, the Jeanine Sandwisch
Dunn International Student Engagement Scholarship; Oshin Walker, the Nancy Cobie International
Student Engagement Scholarship; and Tawana Foster, the Alan McMaster International
Student Engagement Scholarship.

Mary Ann Studer, dean of the McMaster School, noted, “The McMaster family knew ten
years ago what we all now clearly understand: that when scholarship is driven by a
desire to positively impact humanity, what results is an experience that embodies
interdependence, critical thinking, passion, and a global conscience.”

Defiance College, chartered in 1850, is an independent, liberal arts institution in
Northwest Ohio offering more than 40 undergraduate programs of study as well as graduate
programs in education and business. Defiance College has received national recognition
for its educational experience of service and engagement. The college website is www.defiance.edu.